The CEOS Database: The World’s Official Catalogue of Earth Observation Satellites

Key Takeaways

• The CEOS Database catalogs 574 satellite missions and 1,029 instruments from ~30 agencies
• It’s the only official consolidated statement of global civil space agency EO programmes
• The database supports climate monitoring, gap analysis, and international coordination

What the CEOS Database Actually Is

There’s a website that most people outside the space industry have never heard of, yet it quietly underpins some of the most consequential decisions in global environmental science, climate policy, and satellite mission planning. That website is the CEOS Database , housed at database.eohandbook.com, and it serves as the world’s only official, consolidated record of civil Earth observation satellite missions, the instruments those missions carry, and the measurements those instruments make.

To understand what makes this database distinctive, it helps to know who built it and why. The Committee on Earth Observation Satellites , universally known as CEOS , was established in September 1984 following a recommendation from a Panel of Experts on Remote Sensing from Space. That panel was convened under the aegis of the G7 Economic Summit’s Working Group on Growth, Technology, and Employment. The founding idea was straightforward but ambitious: no single country could monitor the entire Earth system on its own, so the world’s space agencies needed to coordinate. CEOS became the institutional mechanism through which that coordination happens.

Today, CEOS brings together 35 member organizations and 32 associate organizations from across more than 35 countries, along with several intergovernmental bodies. The member agencies include organizations like NASA , ESA (the European Space Agency), JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), ISRO (the Indian Space Research Organisation), CNSA (the China National Space Administration), Roscosmos , and dozens of others. The CEOS Database is operated and continuously maintained by ESA on behalf of this collective, with funding provided specifically as ESA’s contribution to CEOS. That arrangement matters: the database isn’t a commercial product, a proprietary tool, or a single agency’s internal catalogue. It’s a community resource.

The MIM Database Explained

The formal name for the database is the CEOS Missions, Instruments and Measurements Database , usually shortened to the MIM Database. As of the most recent annual update completed in October 2024, the database documents 574 Earth observing satellite missions and 1,029 instruments. Of those instruments, 545 are distinct designs, with some repeated across multiple satellites. The missions span the full range of status: 410 are currently operating, 75 have been approved for future launch, 80 are in the planning stage, and 9 are in a considered phase.

The database is updated annually, typically during October and November, based on a direct survey of CEOS member and associate agencies. That survey process is worth pausing on. It means the information in the database comes from the space agencies themselves, not from secondary reporting or open-source intelligence. Each agency submits data on its own programs, which gives the MIM Database a degree of official authority that no other similar resource can claim. CEOS itself describes it as the only official consolidated statement of the programmes and plans of CEOS agencies. That’s not marketing language. It’s an accurate description of what the database is and why it has the standing it does in international discussions about Earth observation.

In 2021, the database team began supplementing the annual survey with quarterly activity reports. These one-page summaries capture recent and upcoming CEOS agency mission launches, distributed to the CEOS mailing list and published on the CEOS website. The Q1 2025 report, for example, tracked missions including GOSAT-GW , MicroCarb , NISAR , MTG-S1 , Sentinel-4 , Sentinel-5 , and several others. The quarterly cadence keeps the database more current between the major annual cycles, which is meaningful when mission statuses can shift unexpectedly due to launch delays, budget changes, or satellite failures.

How the Database Is Organized

The CEOS Database is structured around four primary categories: missions, instruments, measurements, and datasets. Each category is accessible via dedicated tables and index pages on the site, with search and filter functionality that lets users slice the catalogue in various ways.

The Missions section is the backbone of the database. Each mission entry captures a standardized set of information: the operating agency, launch status, orbit type, coverage characteristics, and links to the instruments the satellite carries. Users can browse missions by status (operating, approved, planned, considered), filter by agency, or search the full alphabetical index. The mission table is searchable, which matters when you’re trying to determine, for example, which agencies currently operate synthetic aperture radar satellites, or how many optical imaging missions are planned for the 2025-2030 period.

The Instruments section operates in parallel. Each instrument entry links back to the mission or missions that carry it, since some instruments are flown on multiple platforms. The instrument table captures technical details including the type of sensor, its measurement capabilities, and its operational status. Of the 1,029 instruments currently in the database, 784 are operating, 123 are being developed, 54 are approved, and 68 are proposed.

The Measurements section takes a different angle, organizing the database not by hardware but by what that hardware observes. Users can explore measurement categories, see which missions and instruments contribute to measuring a given variable, and view customizable measurement timelines. Those timelines are particularly useful for gap analysis: by visualizing which satellites are currently measuring a given parameter, and when existing satellites are expected to end operations, analysts can identify windows where coverage might lapse if no new missions are launched in time.

The Datasets section tracks data releases and activity from CEOS agency missions, serving as an entry point into actual data products rather than just mission metadata.

The Role of CEOS Agency Survey Data

What makes the MIM Database genuinely authoritative is the sourcing of its content. The annual survey sent to CEOS agencies is a structured process, asking each agency to provide current status information on all their Earth observation programs. That includes missions that are operational, missions in development, missions that have been approved but not yet funded in detail, and missions in earlier conceptual phases. Agencies also report on instruments, including repeats of existing designs that might fly on future platforms.

This survey-based model has a practical implication: the information in the database reflects what agencies have officially committed to or are planning, not what a third party has inferred from public announcements. That distinction matters in the context of mission planning. When researchers at the CEOS Systems Engineering Office (SEO) use the database to perform gap analysis, they’re working with data that agencies themselves have signed off on. If the database shows a measurement gap, that gap is based on the agency’s own reported plan, not a researcher’s interpretation of a press release.

The database notes explicitly that information from individual agencies supersedes what’s presented in the database if there’s ever a conflict. This is an honest acknowledgment of the limits of any consolidated resource: agencies hold the primary record, and the database is a representation of that record, not a replacement for it.

Gap Analysis and Mission Planning

One of the most operationally significant uses of the CEOS Database is gap analysis. The idea is to determine whether there are periods, now or in the future, when critical Earth measurements would lack satellite coverage. This kind of analysis informs decisions about when to develop new missions, whether to extend the life of existing satellites, and where international cooperation might help fill a gap that no single agency can afford to address alone.

The CEOS Systems Engineering Office performs this analysis, drawing directly on the MIM Database. The measurement timeline tools built into the database support this process visually, but the SEO goes further, conducting structured assessments against global observing requirements. The Global Climate Observing System (GCOS), managed under the World Meteorological Organization, has defined a set of Essential Climate Variables (ECVs), each representing a physical, chemical, or biological measurement considered necessary for understanding and monitoring Earth’s climate. The CEOS MIM Database Climate Chapter maps CEOS agency missions and instruments against these ECVs, making it possible to see which variables have solid satellite-based coverage and which face potential continuity risks.

This kind of analysis has direct policy relevance. When GOSAT-2 was being planned by JAXA, or when discussions took place about launching a follow-on to ESA’s Envisat , the MIM Database provided the baseline against which proposed missions could be evaluated. The question was always: what’s already operating or planned, and where are the gaps? Without a consolidated database, answering that question would require contacting every space agency individually and reconciling whatever they chose to share. The MIM Database makes that process tractable.

It’s worth being specific about what a measurement gap can mean in practice. The Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2), operated by NASA, is one of the primary satellite assets for measuring atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations globally. At the 2025 CEOS SIT Technical Workshop held in September 2025 at EUMETSAT in Darmstadt, there was genuine concern expressed about the potential ending of OCO-2 and OCO-3 operations and the continuity of long-term carbon dioxide records before GOSAT-GW and CO2M could fully compensate. That’s a measurement continuity risk, and the MIM Database is the tool through which such risks become visible and trackable.

The Greenhouse Gas Satellite Missions Portal

In 2023, a collaboration between the ESA SIT Chair Team and the JAXA SIT Vice-Chair Team produced a new specialized portal built directly on the MIM Database: the Greenhouse Gas Satellite Missions Portal . This portal compiles all current and planned satellite missions with the capability to measure greenhouse gases, drawing from both public space agencies and commercial operators as well as non-governmental organizations.

The GHG Portal organizes missions into categories based on their purpose and technical approach. Wide area mappers, sometimes called global GHG mappers, are sensors designed to track greenhouse gas concentrations across large geographic regions. These systems typically use high spectral-resolution imaging spectrometers capable of quantifying carbon dioxide and methane with accuracies as high as 0.25 percent at spatial resolutions as fine as 2 km. Their data can be used to monitor emissions on spatial scales ranging from large urban areas to entire nations, and they provide a transparent method for validating national greenhouse gas inventories. Point source mappers, by contrast, use high spatial resolution to detect emissions from concentrated industrial sources like power plants, oil facilities, and landfills, and a significant portion of these are operated by commercial or non-governmental organizations.

Missions documented in the GHG Portal include ESA’s Sentinel-5P , which conducts high-resolution daily atmospheric measurements including methane and its tracers; JAXA’s GOSAT-GW, which launched in early 2025 to continue the greenhouse gas observation legacy of its predecessors; and France’s MicroCarb, another 2025 launch designed to measure atmospheric carbon dioxide from orbit. The portal also notes missions like China’s FengYun-3D and FengYun-3H , which contribute to greenhouse gas monitoring alongside their primary meteorological roles.

The GHG Portal is updated to reflect the latest mission information, with a September 2024 update providing a comprehensive refresh. It’s an example of how the core MIM Database can be extended into domain-specific tools without duplicating the underlying data infrastructure.

The ESA Third Party Missions Portal

A separate specialized extension of the CEOS Database is the ESA Third Party Missions Portal , which catalogues satellite missions operated by non-ESA agencies whose data ESA distributes to primarily European users through its Earthnet programme. ESA’s Third Party Missions programme has operated for over 45 years and currently comprises more than 50 missions, offering data from over 60 instruments for research and development purposes.

The missions archived in this portal include historic and current systems. Landsat satellites, operated by NASA and the United States Geological Survey and running continuously since 1972, appear here alongside commercial operators like Maxar Technologies , whose GeoEye-1 satellite offered some of the highest commercial imaging resolution available at its launch. The SPOT satellite series from France appears in the archive, as does the COSMO-SkyMed constellation from the Italian Space Agency, various RADARSAT missions from the Canadian Space Agency , and smaller systems like the Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC) of microsatellites.

Including these missions in the CEOS Database provides a more complete picture of the global Earth observation capability, since many scientifically and commercially significant satellites are not operated by CEOS member agencies directly. The ESA TPM Portal also serves a practical data access function: by documenting which historic missions have archived data available, it helps researchers find historical Earth observation records that predate modern agency databases.

Measurement Timelines and Customization

One of the more practically powerful features of the CEOS Database is its customizable measurement timeline tool. Users can select specific measurement types, from sea surface temperature to soil moisture to atmospheric ozone, and generate a visual timeline showing which missions have measured that variable historically, which are measuring it now, and which are planned to measure it in the coming years. This timeline can be filtered by agency, by measurement category, or by mission status.

The value of this tool becomes apparent in the context of planning and coordination. If two space agencies are independently planning similar missions to measure ocean surface topography, the timeline might reveal that their launch schedules would create an overlap in capability followed by a gap. That’s actionable information. It’s the kind of insight that allows CEOS, through its working groups and plenary discussions, to encourage agencies to phase launches more strategically, share data, or in some cases coordinate on joint missions that neither agency could fund alone.

The measurement categories span a wide range of Earth system parameters. Atmospheric measurements include greenhouse gas concentrations, aerosols, ozone, temperature profiles, water vapor, and wind fields. Ocean measurements cover sea surface temperature, sea surface height, ocean color, sea ice extent, and salinity. Land surface measurements include vegetation indices, surface reflectance, soil moisture, land cover, and topography. Cryosphere measurements track ice sheet mass, glacier area, and snow cover. Each of these categories links through to the missions and instruments that provide the relevant data, creating a navigable map of the global Earth observation system.

Supporting the Paris Agreement and the Global Stocktake

The CEOS Database has become an active tool in international climate governance, not just a scientific reference. The Paris Agreement’s Global Stocktake process, which requires countries to periodically assess collective progress toward climate goals, depends on transparent and independent measurement of greenhouse gas concentrations, land use changes, and other indicators. Satellite Earth observation is one of the few methods capable of providing truly independent verification of national emissions inventories.

The most recent edition of the EO Handbook, titled “Space data for the Global Stocktake,” explained how Earth observation satellites contribute to the processes established under the Paris Agreement. The GHG Portal on the CEOS Database directly supports this, giving policymakers, scientists, and international negotiators a consolidated view of which satellite assets exist to support GHG monitoring and verification. The database also provides an entry point for access to datasets and guidance developed by CEOS agencies specifically in support of the Global Stocktake goals.

ESA specifically provides substantial funding and operational management for the CEOS Database as part of its broader contribution to CEOS and to global climate governance. The Copernicus programme , operated by ESA on behalf of the European Union, contributes many of the satellites that appear in the database, including the Sentinel satellite series, which provide freely available data on land surface, oceans, atmosphere, and emergency response applications. Sentinel-5P, Sentinel-2, and the planned Sentinel-4 and Sentinel-5 missions all appear in the MIM Database and in the GHG Portal.

The 2015 COP21 climate conference in Paris prompted a dedicated Climate Chapter addition to the CEOS Database. That chapter links the GCOS Essential Climate Variables to the satellite missions and instruments that measure them, and identifies the actions CEOS agencies are taking in support of the GCOS Implementation Plan . The chapter was an acknowledgment that climate policy increasingly requires the kind of systematic, multi-agency overview that only a database like this one can provide.

The CEOS Database and Disaster Response

Beyond climate, the CEOS Database supports disaster risk reduction and emergency response. Following major natural disasters, the ability to quickly identify which satellites can observe an affected area, and what measurements they can provide, is operationally significant. CEOS operates in close coordination with the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters , a mechanism through which CEOS member agencies commit to making satellite data available for emergency response when disasters occur.

The MIM Database’s mission and instrument tables support this function. Emergency response coordinators can query the database to identify, for example, which synthetic aperture radar missions are currently operational and capable of imaging through cloud cover following a flood or earthquake. That’s the kind of information needed in the first hours after a disaster, when optical imaging may be unavailable due to weather conditions. SAR instruments like those on the Sentinel-1 satellites, ALOS-4 operated by JAXA, and COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation operated by the Italian Space Agency appear in the database alongside their technical specifications and coverage capabilities.

The CEOS Visualization Environment , known as COVE, is a related tool that builds on MIM Database data. COVE is a browser-based suite that allows users to search, analyze, and visualize satellite sensor coverage for more than 100 Earth-observing satellites. It provides acquisition forecasting, showing when specific satellites will pass over a given area, which is directly useful for disaster response coordination.

The CEOS Database in the Broader Ecosystem

The CEOS Database doesn’t operate in isolation. It feeds into and draws from a broader ecosystem of Earth observation data resources, and understanding where it sits in that ecosystem helps clarify what it does and doesn’t do.

The database is not a data archive. It doesn’t store actual satellite images or environmental datasets; it stores metadata about missions, instruments, and measurements. For actual data access, users would turn to agency-operated archives like NASA’s Earthdata portal, ESA’s Earth Online platform, or the federated FedEO system, which as of March 2025 contains over 234 million granules across nearly 2,700 collections. Keywords from the CEOS MIM Database are used in both FedEO and the NASA-operated CEOS International Directory Network (IDN) to ensure compatibility and discoverability across CEOS services.

The database also complements, rather than duplicates, resources like the WMO’s OSCAR/Satellite system, which provides details on environmental satellite missions from the meteorological community. There’s significant overlap in the missions documented by both systems, but the CEOS Database’s unique authority comes from the direct agency survey process and its status as the official CEOS record. The UCS Satellite Database from the Union of Concerned Scientists provides in-depth details on all satellites currently orbiting Earth, but it covers military and commercial satellites as well and isn’t focused on Earth observation specifically.

CelesTrak provides launch information and orbital tracking for the full satellite catalog, and its data is linked from the CEOS Database for users who need orbital parameters alongside mission metadata.

What the Mission and Instrument Pages Contain

Each individual mission and instrument page in the CEOS Database provides a standardized summary that goes considerably deeper than the top-level tables. For a mission like Landsat 9 , launched in September 2021 by NASA and USGS, the mission page documents the operating agency, launch date, orbit type (sun-synchronous, at 705 km altitude), repeat cycle, swath width, the instruments carried, the measurements those instruments make, and the mission status. For instruments like the Operational Land Imager 2 (OLI-2) aboard Landsat 9, the instrument page provides sensor type, spectral bands, spatial resolution, swath width, and links back to the mission.

For larger, more complex missions, these pages become rich technical summaries. The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission, operated by ESA and consisting of two satellites (Sentinel-2A and Sentinel-2B) plus a planned Sentinel-2C launched in 2024, has entries that document the Multi-Spectral Instrument (MSI) aboard each satellite, the 13 spectral bands it uses, the 10-metre spatial resolution in key visible and near-infrared bands, and the 5-day revisit cycle achieved by the two-satellite constellation. This kind of structured, comparable information across hundreds of missions is exactly what the database makes possible and what would be impractical to compile any other way.

The database also retains historical missions. Systems that have completed operations but maintained data archives appear in the database, providing a historical dimension that is useful for long-term trend analysis. The Envisat satellite, which operated from 2002 until contact was lost in April 2012, remains in the database as a completed mission with historical relevance. So does the SCIAMACHY instrument it carried, which provided tropospheric and stratospheric profiles of trace gases including methane and carbon dioxide from 2002 to 2012, and which forms part of the long-term atmospheric chemistry record.

The 40th Anniversary and the Montreal Statement

In October 2024, CEOS held its 40th anniversary plenary in Montreal. The occasion prompted the organization to reflect on four decades of activity and to adopt what became known as the Montreal Statement, which reaffirmed organizational priorities and acknowledged the context in which Earth observation satellites now operate: a world of rapidly expanding commercial operators, increasingly urgent climate data requirements, and growing recognition of satellite data as infrastructure for global governance rather than purely a scientific resource.

The CEOS Database has evolved considerably over that 40-year span. In 2015, when the database contained 296 satellite missions and 830 instruments, its Climate Chapter was added for the COP21 conference in Paris. By October 2024, the mission count had grown to 574, and the instrument count had reached 1,029. That growth reflects both the expansion of the global space sector and the increasing inclusiveness of the CEOS membership, which now spans agencies from countries that barely had domestic space programs in 1984.

The quarterly report model introduced in 2021 was itself an evolution in response to a more dynamic satellite launch environment. When major launches happen multiple times per quarter, an annual update cycle creates information gaps that matter for planning and coordination. The quarterly reports are a practical adaptation.

Why This Database Matters to Non-Space Audiences

It might seem like the CEOS Database is purely a tool for satellite engineers and space agency planners. In one sense, that’s its primary audience. But the database’s significance extends well beyond those communities in ways that affect virtually everyone.

Consider the following: the data that feeds weather forecasts comes overwhelmingly from satellites catalogued in this database. The satellite measurements used to track Arctic sea ice loss, coral reef bleaching events, deforestation rates, and agricultural drought conditions all come from missions documented here. The national greenhouse gas inventories that countries submit under the Paris Agreement are increasingly checked against independent satellite measurements, most of which come from missions in the CEOS Database.

When there’s a concern about continuity of coverage for a particular measurement, as there was regarding OCO-2 and OCO-3 at the 2025 SIT Technical Workshop, the CEOS Database is the reference document in that conversation. Scientists and policymakers use it to argue for the importance of specific missions, to justify mission development expenditures to national governments, and to coordinate launches so that the global observation system doesn’t develop critical gaps.

The database also plays a role that’s easy to underestimate: it makes the global Earth observation system legible. Without it, understanding what assets exist, what they measure, and who operates them would require navigating dozens of agency websites in multiple languages, reconciling inconsistent formats, and filling in gaps with indirect sources. The MIM Database does that work once, rigorously, and makes the result freely available.

There’s a reasonable argument that the CEOS Database is one of the most consequential scientific data resources most people have never heard of. The decisions it informs and the coordination it enables affect monitoring of the global climate system, disaster response capability, agricultural planning, and international climate governance. None of that happens without the infrastructure that makes it possible, and this database is a significant piece of that infrastructure.

The EO Handbook Connection

The CEOS Database and the Earth Observation Handbook are related but distinct products. The EO Handbook is a periodic publication by ESA, updated every few years with a focus on a specific theme. Past editions have addressed the Sustainable Development Goals (2018 edition), climate change (a special 2015 edition for COP21), and disaster risk reduction (2015 edition for the World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction). The most recent edition, “Space data for the Global Stocktake,” was produced in conjunction with the Paris Agreement’s stocktake process.

The MIM Database provides the technical backbone for the EO Handbook: it supplies the systematic overview of missions and instruments that forms the foundation of each edition. The Handbook is the accessible, themed publication; the database is the living technical record from which it draws. The two together constitute what CEOS calls the “CEOS Earth Observation Handbook” in the broader sense, even though the database is updated continuously while the printed Handbook is published periodically.

This relationship explains why the database URL is database.eohandbook.com and why the two are presented as parts of a single resource on the CEOS website. For users who want the accessible thematic summary, the EO Handbook editions are the entry point. For users who need the current technical detail, the database is where they need to go.

Access, Openness, and Audience

The CEOS Database is freely accessible to anyone with an internet connection. There’s no registration required, no paywall, and no licensing constraint on using the information it contains. This openness reflects CEOS’s broader commitment to promoting the exchange of Earth observation data and reducing barriers to its use.

The primary audience for the database is technical and institutional: space agency staff, researchers at universities and environmental institutes, mission planners at commercial satellite companies interested in understanding the existing landscape of public sector missions, and organizations like the World Meteorological Organization , the United Nations Environment Programme , and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that rely on satellite data for their work. The Group on Earth Observations (GEO), which coordinates global Earth observation strategy, uses CEOS and its database as a primary reference.

But the database is also navigable by anyone willing to explore it. A researcher at a developing-country university trying to understand what satellite data is available for monitoring a local river basin can find, in the CEOS Database, a structured overview of which missions collect relevant data and which agencies operate them. That discovery process has genuine value, even if the user never interacts with CEOS or ESA directly.

The site’s structure supports multiple levels of engagement. The top-level tables and indices are navigable without any prior knowledge of the satellite industry. The detailed mission and instrument pages reward deeper exploration. The measurement timelines and gap analysis tools require some familiarity with Earth observation concepts to use effectively. It’s a resource designed to serve its primary technical audience while remaining open to wider use.

Current Mission and Instrument Distribution

The table below summarizes the current distribution of CEOS database missions and instruments by status, drawn from the October 2024 annual update.

Summary

The CEOS Database is a resource that does something genuinely rare: it tells the whole truth about the state of the global civil Earth observation system, as reported directly by the agencies running it. Its authority comes from the survey process, its usefulness comes from the structure and accessibility it imposes on what would otherwise be an unnavigable collection of agency-specific information, and its relevance has only grown as satellite Earth observation has become central to climate science, disaster response, and international governance.

What the database doesn’t do is advocate for any particular mission or agency. It’s a mirror, not a lens. That neutrality is part of what makes it trusted. And in a domain where international cooperation depends on shared information, a trusted, authoritative, freely available catalogue of who is observing what and when isn’t a luxury. It’s the table on which every other conversation rests.

As commercial satellite operators proliferate, the gap between what the MIM Database documents and what’s actually in orbit will widen. Commercial operators like Planet Labs , Spire Global , HawkEye 360 , and dozens of others operate satellites that measure the Earth in ways that overlap with and complement the governmental missions in the CEOS Database. The GHG Portal has begun to include commercial and NGO missions, which is a meaningful evolution. Whether the MIM Database ultimately expands to systematically cover the commercial sector, or whether it maintains its focus on governmental agency programs while complementary resources address the commercial world, will shape its relevance in the decade ahead. That question doesn’t have an obvious answer, and anyone who says it does isn’t being careful enough about how quickly the commercial Earth observation sector is changing.

Appendix: Top 10 Questions Answered in This Article

What is the CEOS Database?

The CEOS Database, accessible at database.eohandbook.com, is the world’s only official consolidated catalogue of civil Earth observation satellite missions, instruments, and measurements. It’s maintained by ESA on behalf of the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites and updated annually through a direct survey of CEOS member agencies. The database serves as the authoritative reference for international coordination of Earth observation programmes.

How many satellites and instruments does the CEOS Database currently track?

As of the October 2024 annual update, the database documents 574 Earth observing satellite missions and 1,029 instruments in total, of which 545 are distinct instrument designs. Of those missions, 410 are currently operating, 75 are approved for future launch, 80 are in planning, and 9 are in a considered phase. These missions are funded and operated by approximately 30 CEOS space agencies worldwide.

Who operates the CEOS Database and who funds it?

ESA (the European Space Agency) operates and maintains the CEOS Database as its official contribution to CEOS. Funding is provided by ESA specifically for this purpose, but the content is provided by all CEOS member and associate agencies through an annual survey process, making the database a collectively owned community resource.

What is the difference between the CEOS MIM Database and the EO Handbook?

The MIM Database is a continuously updated technical catalogue of missions, instruments, and measurements updated each year. The EO Handbook is a periodically published thematic report that draws on the database to explain Earth observation capabilities to broader audiences, with each edition focusing on a specific topic such as the Sustainable Development Goals or the Paris Agreement’s Global Stocktake.

Why is the CEOS Database considered authoritative?

It is the only official consolidated statement of the programmes and plans of CEOS agencies, with information provided directly by the agencies themselves via annual surveys. This means the database reflects officially committed plans rather than third-party interpretations. No other similar resource carries this level of institutional authority or follows this direct-from-agency data collection process.

What is the CEOS GHG Satellite Missions Portal?

The GHG Satellite Missions Portal, developed in 2023 through collaboration between the ESA SIT Chair Team and JAXA SIT Vice-Chair Team, provides a consolidated list of all current and planned satellite missions capable of measuring greenhouse gases. It covers public agencies, commercial operators, and NGOs, and directly supports the Paris Agreement’s Global Stocktake process by documenting which satellite assets exist for independent emissions verification.

How does the CEOS Database support climate policy?

The database’s Climate Chapter maps satellite missions and instruments against the Global Climate Observing System’s Essential Climate Variables, identifying both strong coverage areas and continuity risks. The GHG Portal supports the Paris Agreement’s Global Stocktake by documenting satellite assets available for independent greenhouse gas monitoring, and the database has served as the technical reference for international climate discussions since a dedicated Climate Chapter was added for the 2015 COP21 conference.

What is the CEOS measurement timeline tool?

The measurement timeline is a customizable visualization within the CEOS Database that shows, for any selected measurement type, which missions have provided data historically, which provide it currently, and which are planned to do so in future years. It is a primary instrument for identifying gaps in measurement continuity that might require new satellite missions or international coordination to address.

How often is the CEOS Database updated?

The database undergoes a full annual update each October and November, based on the CEOS Agency survey completed in October 2024. Since 2021, the team has also published quarterly activity reports summarizing recent and upcoming satellite launches, providing more current information between the major annual update cycles.

What is CEOS and when was it established?

CEOS, the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites, was established in September 1984 following a recommendation from a G7-convened Panel of Experts on Remote Sensing from Space. Today it consists of 35 member organizations and 32 associate organizations spanning more than 35 countries, coordinating civil space-based Earth observation programs and promoting the exchange of data to support global decision-making.